Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (Aug 2021)
A new system for the production and storage of thermal energy based on two complementary and different types of phase changing materials
Abstract
The phase change materials (PCM) are materials that can improve thermal energy storage and production in buildings. This technique has sparked a lot of interest due to the large amount of energy that can be produced by integrating PCM into the collector or that can be stored by integrating the PCM into the tank. Despite considerable progress in research and design, PCM technologies still face diverse challenges. Indeed, other variables that have a significant impact on this phenomenon have been overlooked such as engineering and heat transfer modes especially heat radiation. Besides, the selected temperature of phase change has a direct impact on PCM efficiency. Since the higher the phase change temperature, the more heat is produced. Hence, combining two different types of PCM that have different properties will improve thermal energy efficiency.This research aims to establish a new PCM system that combines two complementary kinds of PCMs have different melting temperatures. The system seeks to improve storage and production by optimizing engineering and adapting the phase change point as needed, according to weather conditions and seasons. Therefore, the thermo-mechanical modelling studies the different heat transfers for the triangular geometry for both types of PCM in order to adapt the proposed geometry with the PCM system. The results showed that the proposed system could absorb thermal energy in most cases due to the selected low phase change point. Then, PCM system continues to store thermal energy until the system reaches the second phase change. Therefore, the numerical study showed significant improvement in predicting the thermal behavior in solar systems as well the average storage time has been reduced by 10%. In contrast, the proposed study can be used to optimize energy consumption in air conditioning and improve production in photovoltaic systems.
